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How to Say ‘What's going on?’ in French

Qu'est-ce qui se passe ?

k eh suh kee suh pass

[k eh suh kee suh pass]

Phrase Breakdown

Qu'est-ce qui

k eh suh kee

What (subject)

Question opener for asking what is happening or acting. Say it as one flow: 'kess-kee'.

Example

Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas ?

What's wrong?

Words in this phrase

Qu'

[k]

what

Contracted form used in questions starting with what.

Example

Qu'est-ce qu'il comprend ? Qu' introduces the question.

What does it include? Qu' introduces the question.

est

[eh]

is

Third person singular present of be.

Example

C'est important.

It is important.

-ce

[suh]

question marker

In est-ce que, this element helps form a standard yes/no question in French.

Example

Est-ce qu'il y a un parking gratuit ?

Is there free parking?

qui

[kee]

that / which (subject)

Relative pronoun used as subject; in 'qu'est-ce qui' it means 'what' as subject.

Example

Qu'est-ce qui ne marche pas ?

What isn't working?

se passe ?

suh pass

is happening?

From the reflexive verb 'se passer' (to happen). Say it 'suh pass', with the voice rising at the end.

Example

Ça se passe bien ?

Is it going well?

Words in this phrase

se

[suh]

itself; each other; oneself

Part of the pronominal expression "se passer," used to talk about how something goes.

Example

Dans L'intégration se passe bien ?, se appartient au verbe complet.

In "L'intégration se passe bien?", "se" belongs to the full verb.

passe

[pass]

goes; happens

Indicates the way a process is unfolding.

Example

L'intégration se passe bien ? permet de vérifier si tout va bien pour un nouvel employé.

"Is the onboarding going well?" makes it possible to check whether everything is going well for a new employee.

Related guides

The Most Common French Verbs: the 20 You'll Actually UseThe 20 most common French verbs, with the present-tense forms you need, real example sentences with native audio, and two shortcuts for past and future.Babbel vs Pimsleur: Reading Your Way In or Listening Your Way In?Babbel vs Pimsleur: short structured lessons on screen versus 30-minute audio lessons you answer out loud. Which gets you speaking, and which fits your day.

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